Fighting reported in AA-held Myebon 

By Admin 29 Mar 2024

DMG Newsroom
29 March 2024, Myebon

Fighting between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) broke out in Myebon town, Arakan State, which is held by the ethnic armed group, on Thursday.

The AA clashed with the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 563 near a hill northeast of Lithun Village, part of Arakan State’s Myebon Township, at about 9 a.m. on March 28, the ethnic armed group said in a statement. The statement did not detail the casualties from either side during the clash. 

The AA announced on February 15 that it took control of Myebon town. This is the first clash between the military and AA since the ethnic armed group seized the town.

“A clash broke out between the AA and military near Lithun Village yesterday and the military’s LIB 563 is still stationed in the area. The fighting erupted because the AA launched an attack on the military’s regiment,” said a local resident in Myebon.

In response to consecutive military defeats in Arakan State, the regime has been targeting residential areas with air and artillery strikes on the AA-held towns, causing civilian casualties daily.

“The regime carries out airstrikes on civilian areas on a daily basis. Locals are worried about the risks of junta airstrikes,” said a local woman in Myebon.

Scores of civilians including a monk and a novice were injured when the junta conducted bombing raids on Nyaung Kan Village in Myebon Township on March 22. Many houses were damaged in ensuing fires.

Two civilians were killed and another injured in Thayet Taung Village, Myebon Township, in a junta bombing raid on March 23. A junta air attack on Kanhtaunggyi town on March 24 destroyed a hospital and injured a health worker.

Hundreds of civilian casualties were reported in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myebon, Kyaukphyu and Ramree townships due to the junta’s indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes this month.